Are you starting, or thinking of starting, a commercial blog? Do you have a question that you’ve been trying to figure out around some of the topics of ProBlogging? Feel free to submit your question for ProBloggers in comments below and I’ll try to get back to you with an answer – or at least point you to a previously written article on the topic. Questions might also feature in future interviews with ProBloggers.

Your questions can focus on anything from using Adsense on your blog, to which Blog tools are best, to Affiliate programs, to Search Engine Optimization, to writing content through to business blogs. No question is too stupid to ask. If I don’t know the answer I’ll open it for general discussion and see if our collective knowledge as probloggers can work it out.

1. Internet usage is booming. The statistics show that more and more people around the globe are going online and that it continues to be a medium with incredible potential to communicate with the masses quickly, cheaply and with little fuss. Similarly the statistics show that more and more people are becoming familiar with and readers of blogs. This has to give the average problogger some hope. The more who read blogs the less problem congestion of the blogosphere (see my fears post) becomes.

‘Ask long time probloggers what have been their fears, hopes and expectations.’

I previously answered the expectations part of this question – now I’ll turn to ‘fears’

Fears: I don’t really have too many extreme fears about my blogging. I’m trying to take the approach that everyday that I can earn a living from blogging is one day longer than what I ever thought I’d be able to achieve. Having said that there are a number of concerns that I have that have the potential to end or at least limit what I do….

Coming up with creative and profitable Ideas for blogs sometimes feels more about luck than anything else. But in my experience there is a number of steps you can do to better your chances. This is the third and final part of a series on finding Money making blog ideas. Also see part 1 and part 2 for the full picture.

5.Collaborate – Blogging doesn’t have to be a lonely introspective task – in fact I’ve found that when you share your ideas and passions with other bloggers it can come alive. Pick a few trusted bloggers to run your ideas past. You may just use them as a sounding board to critique and give ideas or you may actually open your idea up and invite them to become a partner in your blog project. This is especially worthwhile if you’ve picked a topic that is big or outside of your expertise. The wonderful thing about collaboration is that if you choose your partners carefully you’ll end up with a blog that is so much better than what you could have done alone. I’ve seen this happen on a number of occasions in the past year, starting mainly with the Olympics Blog which I involved a number of others in. Had I kept the idea to myself I doubt it would have been anything near the success that it was – the topic was just too big and my technical expertise with databases and other aspects of that blog were well beyond me.

So grab a partner and see what comes together when you put your heads together.

More and more people are finding ways to make money from blogging but few pro bloggers are making their money from their personal, general themed blogs. In most cases it takes a blog either with a tight niche or fresh idea to make it big in the blogosphere – but how do you find those ideas? Before reading on you might like to read Part 1 of this series.

3. Dream – Most mornings you can find me at a local cafe for at least for 30 – 60 minutes. The reasons I go there are numerous. For one coffee is an essential ingredient in me thinking creatively (that should almost be a point in and of itself) but secondly I do it to intentionally get out of my ‘Blog HQ’ (my office) and into a different space. I usually leave my laptop at the office and just take a pen and my journal and use the time to dream.

You see I find it easy to fill my head up with wonderful information, observations, predictions and knowledge but unless I put time aside to dream about how blogging could fit with the information I’m gathering the dots may never be joined. Get out that journal again and add to your list of potential topics – what would you love to write about? What would be an outrageous topic to blog on? What type of person would you like to write a blog for? Think outside the box you’ve been living in – open your mind and come up with as many creative ideas as possible. Nothing is too stupid – not until the next stage anyway.

‘What Darren doesn’t say is just how to come up with those money-making ideas. He’s clearly got the knack of latching onto current issues appropriate for blogs, but not everyone does.’

That got me wondering – how do the ideas come? I started jotting down a few ideas this afternoon about how I coax ideas for new blogs and posts out of my mind and soon found I had more than a single post on my hands. So here is the first part in my mini series on how to find money making blog ideas:

1. Observe – I am an information junkie. I watch too much TV, read too many books (I never make it to the end though), spend way too much time on the internet, squander hours in the news agents flicking through magazines, spend more time at cafes watching people than eating food and am a sucker for any article, website or conversation that is about ‘trends or predictions‘.

If you want to create a blog that is going to be read by as many people as possible you must be in touch with where as many people are at (or will be at). What are they eating, drinking, doing with spare time, watching on TV, thinking about, lusting after, obsessing about etc. Don’t only observe what others are doing – take a look at your own life, look at your spending paterns, TV watching habits, interests and passions and you might just find a great topic in your own life! I also find that stimulating myself with new sights, sounds, tastes, places, people can also help get the creative juices flowing. Keep a journal (I use a whiteboard and a spreadsheet) of your observations which you can come back to later.